Sweet Child of Mine

Cadence sighed as she closed her computer. She and Castiel had been fluttering all over the world for days. They’ve been to parts of the world Cadence didn’t know had any connections to God. Currently they were in Iraq outside of Baghdad; Castiel was in the city, looking for a man he thought could help with the search. Cadence was in another abandoned shack, one that had probably been ruined in the war in Iraq. She had just finished looking up more news stories about the storms Raphael was making but with no luck on figuring out where the next one will strike; ever since Castiel had taken them to Egypt the spiral of the storm changed, now it appeared to be mostly sporadic.

Putting her computer on her duffel bag, she sighed again and sprawled out on her sleeping bag. With her eyes closed, the desert around her was quiet. A feeling of being watched came, but upon opening her eyes nothing could be found. Finding the silence unnerving, Cadence opened her computer again and turned on her iTunes, pressing shuffle. The first song to be picked was ‘No Sound But The Wind’ by Editors. She smiled at the song choice and lied back down, closing her eyes again. The song played and Cadence’s breathing started to slow down and her body starting the climb into the land of sleep.

Her mind had just started shooting dream spindles at her when the sound of fluttering wings came. Sitting up, Cadence rubbed her eyes and looked up at the angel, “Anything?”

Castiel nodded, “We need to go back to the States.”

Cadence nodded, turning off the music and packing away her computer. Castiel waited patiently as she packed the rest of her gear.

“You have… a very interesting taste in music,” said Castiel.

Cadence shrugged while she rolled her sleeping bag tightly, “Um… thanks.”

“It’s very different from Dean.”

Cadence scoffed, “Yeah well by the looks of him he’s still rockin' to the greatest hits of mullet rock.” Castiel nodded and Cadence stood up, “Ready. Where are we going?”

“To Bobby’s.”

Cadence grabbed a hold of his arm and the next thing she saw was Bobby’s living room with the old man sitting at the desk by the fire place. He looked up with a start then relaxed, “Where the hell have you been?”

Cadence shrugged, “Everywhere.”

Bobby rolled out from behind the desk and stopped resting his arms on the arm rests of his wheelchair, “And?”

“We didn’t find anything.”

Castiel looked at Bobby and said, “Where is Dean?”

“He’s in Columbus Ohio at-” Castiel was gone.

Bobby turned to Cadence and she smiled, “You get use to that after a while.”

He nodded, “I’m sure.”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No.”

“Do… you have anything here?”

“No.”

“What shall we do then?”

Bobby shrugged, “There’s a burger place in town.”

Cadence smiled, “Oh my God, that sounds perfect.”

Bobby smiled, “There’s a menu on the fridge.”

Cadence set her bag down and walked through the archway into the kitchen. Standing on her toes she grabbed the first menu she saw and yelled, “Joe’s?”

“That’d be the one.”

Walking back into the other room, she handed the menu to Bobby who looked it over and said, “I’ll call it in, you can go get it.”

She nodded, “Deal.”

“What do you want?”

“I’ll have the double bacon cheese burger with pepper jack and a side of fries.”

Bobby smiled, “So the usual.”

“Yeah.”

Bobby grabbed the phone on his desk and dialed the number. Cadence took her bag off of the floor and made a signal that she as going to head upstairs. Climbing the only staircase in the house, she walked down the hallway and entered the second door on the left into an old bedroom. The cover was moth eaten, having not been cared for in a while. The dresser was covered with old books, some informative, others books that she herself had left here when she and her mother stayed here. The books were copies of Austen, Stoker, and Dickens. Setting her bag down on the bed, she unrolled her sleeping bag, covering the bed like her mother had when she was little. Setting the bag by the foot of the bed, she sat down and sighed.

Looking around the room she felt oddly at home. Her eyes looked at the chair in the corner and from the corner of her eye she saw the image of her mother walking over to it, letting down her red hair from the braid that she always wore it in. Sitting down in the chair she sighed and looked up at Cadence and said, “Go to sleep babe… we’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

Cadence looked at her mother and said, “What are we going to do mommy?”

“We’re going to see grandma’s grave.”

Cadence continued to look at the chair, but the image of her mother had disappeared. Tears formed in her eyes as she registered the empty space, and she moved to lay down on the bed, her tears slipping down her face. Memories of being in this room washed over her and the loss of her mother hit her again. It had been years since she had died, but Cadence was still mourning her death.

“Cadence! You can leave now if you want.” Bobby’s voice carried up through the floor boards and into the room. Sitting up, she wiped her eyes and face clear of tears before leaving the room.

Coming down she smiled a Bobby and said, “I’ll be back in ten.”

“Are you okay?” Bobby always knew when she had been Cadence wasn’t herself.

Smiling she avoided showing her face to Bobby and said, “I’m fine. I’ll be no less than ten minutes. My cell is on. If I take more than twenty, call.”

“What’s the extra ten minutes for?”

“Flirting with the cute boy behind the counter.”

Bobby chuckled and Cadence left the house getting into the pickup truck that Bobby had been using for years. Bobby pushed the wheels of his chair through his house, leaving his desk and going into the dining room. The wall to his right was the way into the kitchen, but across from it, was a dresser. When his wife was still alive the dresser was used to store the fine china and silver. The items were still in the bottom drawers, untouched. Bobby now used the dresser to house his memories.

Opening the top drawer Bobby rummaged around pulling out a snap shot of two women standing next to each other, one holding a baby girl. It was the same photo Cadence carried with her at all time. Bobby moved his thumb gently over the surface of the picture only to flip it over and look at the back. In black ink and in a woman’s hand writing were the names Constance, Constantine, and Cadence. The date was a bit faded but Bobby didn’t need it. The picture was taken three years before the eldest woman, Constance, died. The three women were always coming in and out of the house, helping Bobby learn the trade, learn to hunt. When Cadence was born Bobby felt like a father, helping her mother raise her, even letting them move into the guest bedroom upstairs.

When Cadence was born Bobby was the first person to learn their family’s secret. Constance and Constantine had special abilities. At first Bobby didn’t know what to think about the two women until they displayed all that they could do. All abilities were mental; however Constance was a powerful healer. When Cadence was born, and as she grew, the three adults watched carefully for any sign of ability. Years went by, and with Constance’s death Constantine and Bobby gave up looking after a while.

Bobby missed having Constantine and Cadence in his house. After Constantine was killed he went out and found Cadence sitting alone in their small hotel room, the mini bar drained of liquid, and countless bottles of beer littered the floor. Bobby was the one who dragged her out and took her to his house, helping her sober up. She hated him the entire time, but he would have been damned if she killed herself too.

O, what Bobby would have given to have the innocent Cadence Husch back... the small girl with long wavy red hair who always wore a smile.

A tear dropped onto the photo and Bobby snapped back to himself, wiping his eyes then putting the picture back into the drawer. Wheeling himself into the kitchen, he heard his truck pull up to the house and Cadence appeared carrying bags of greasy food. She sat at the table and gave Bobby his food. Taking the foil wrapped sandwich Bobby thanked Cadence and the two fell into a nice silence.

After a while Bobby said, “You missed Ellen and Jo.”

“Really?”

Bobby nodded, “They left yesterday.”

“Why were they here?”

“They were recovering from a job.”

“What kind of job?” Cadence put down her meal to replace it with a drink.

“They were in Colorado, helping Rufus, said it was a demon thing. Turns out it was a Horseman making the towns people think their friends were possessed. If Dean and Sam hadn’t been there I don’t know what would have happened.”

“You… you mentioned a Horseman? Was it War?”

Bobby nodded, “Yeah it was.”

Cadence sat back and sighed, “Shit.”

Bobby nodded again, “Yeah Ellen and Jo came here helping me out and what not. They were both pretty shaken but they left.”

“So wait… Ellen is letting Jo hunt now?”

“I guess.”

Cadence nodded, “Awesome.”

Bobby didn’t say anything in response. The two again fell into silence and soon finished their meals. Cadence cleared the area and took a seat in the living room.

“So what are we going to do?” Asked Cadence.

Bobby tossed her a book with a cross on the cover, “Have at it.”

“The Bible?”

“Yeah.”

“Bobby I’ve read this thing dozens of times.”

“It’s a good read.”

“Any book in specific?”

“Mark anything that jumps out at you.”

Cadence sighed and opened the cover flipping the pages to the book of Revelations, and dove into the ancient text. Fifty pages in, her eyes were sore, and her nerves were use to silence. So when the phone ran she jumped. Bobby moved to the table by the window answering the phone, “Sam?” Cadence looked over, “Well I ain’t running any marathons. But I’ll live. Where are you?” Bobby paused for a moment then asked, “What omens?” Sam Winchester’s voice could be heard on the other line, “Well ain’t that delightful.”

Cadence set her Bible down as she continued to listen.

Bobby nodded slightly at what Sam said and replied, “He told me…. Okay let me think of the best hunter who might be in the immediate vicinity… oh, that’d be you.” Bobby paused for Sam then leaned forward, “Sam…. Hold on Sam!” Bobby pulled the phone away from his ear and turned it off, setting it on the table angrily.

“What’s up with Sam?”

Bobby sighed, “Sam and Dean are separated, Sam isn’t hunting anymore…. Pain in the ass, the both of them, if you ask me.”

“Why isn’t Sam hunting?”

“He doesn’t feel like he can handle it.”

Cadence nodded then said, “So…. I’m going to bed now…. A week sleeping on the ground makes that bed upstairs look comfortable as hell.”

Bobby smiled, “Goodnight Cadence.”

“Goodnight Bobby.”

Going up the stairs Cadence went into the guest room and crawled into bed, not bothering to take off her jeans.